‘My language thing … is like a big shadow always behind me’: International counselling trainees' challenges in beginning clinical practice

Background: While counsellor education becomes increasingly culturally diverse, little is known about international trainees' experiences of training. Objective: The present study explores one aspect of training, namely clinical practice from the perspective of international, non‐native speaking trainees. In particular, this paper focuses on the challenges this group encounters when practicing in a second language. Methodology: Semi‐structured interviews with four non‐native English‐speaking trainees were conducted and analysed following the principles of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Results: Findings suggest that participants encounter practical difficulties related to their non‐native/foreign identity in practice, such as problems with articulate self‐expression and understanding the client's speech. These difficulties generate anxiety and impact on the trainees' confidence. Conclusions and implications for counsellor training: This study elucidates language as a fundamental aspect of culture, and identifies second language use as a significant source of difference in counselling practice. This paper highlights the need for attention to linguistic diversity and for appropriate support during counsellor education. This will improve international trainees' experiences of training, but also enhance all trainees' understanding of difference, resulting in better service provision for the community.     

Should psychotherapists disclose their own psychological problems?

Background: Self‐disclosures by psychotherapists can encompass a wide array of content, including information about the personal life of the psychotherapist. Aim: The goal of this study was to empirically assess reactions to psychotherapists disclosing their own personal problems to clients with similar problems. Methodology: This study explored participants' (n = 155) reactions to vignettes describing psychotherapists as either disclosing or not disclosing their own history of psychological problems to clients presenting with similar problems. Findings: Compared to otherwise identical vignettes featuring psychotherapists who did not self‐disclose, vignettes featuring psychotherapists who self‐disclosed were rated more positively in a variety of ways. Specifically, psychotherapists in the vignettes featuring self‐disclosure were perceived as possessing a higher level of favourable personal qualities and as more likely to establish strong working relationships with clients and achieve success in therapy. Limitations of the method and alternate explanations for the results are considered. Implications: Implications regarding the judicious use by psychotherapists of self‐disclosure regarding their own past psychological problems are discussed.     

How person-centred counselling trainers understand and experience their role in the current British context

This article reports the findings of a qualitative study into the experience of person-centred training from the viewpoint of the trainer. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was the adopted approach. The researcher conducted a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews with five person-centred trainers with experience across a range of settings. The findings demonstrate the commitment of person-centred trainers to a relational approach with the facilitation of individual potential at its heart. The intrinsically rewarding nature of the role is highlighted alongside its substantial demands. Participants demonstrated a primary identification with themselves as counsellor trainers rather than academics and some lack of reconciliation with current developments within counselling.     

Changes in studying abilities as perceived by students attending psychotherapy

In rehabilitative psychotherapy, the goal is to support and improve the person's working and studying capacity and to secure his/her staying in or entering the workforce. In this qualitative study, the aim was to describe the changes students experienced in their studying ability and the advancement of their studies as a result of the therapy process. The results of this study showed many kinds of positive changes in the psychological resources and studying ability of students participating in psychotherapy. The results also show that when psychotherapy is arranged with the aim to support the study process, good connections between psychotherapy, study tutoring and career guidance are needed.     

Young clients' narratives of the purpose and outcome of counselling

This study explores how adolescent clients construct the purpose and outcome of counselling. A narrative analysis was performed on interviews with 22 clients (aged 16–18) who had used a school-based counselling service. The aim was to identify the purpose and outcomes that participants attributed to their counselling experience. The analysis identified four narrative forms that young clients used to describe counselling. These included ‘transformative’, ‘supportive’, ‘pragmatic’ and ‘disappointed’ narratives. Each narrative form constructed a different purpose and outcome for counselling. Engaging with clients' narratives about the purpose and intended outcome of counselling may allow counsellors to better match their expectations and approach to fit with their young client or to work with them to co-construct more flexible narratives that support helpful outcomes.     

Forty years of the BJGC: a personal review

The origins and development of the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling are outlined. An analysis is provided of the growth of the journal in terms of the numbers of issues, articles and pages; the use of special features to attract and distinguish particular types of article; and the changing balance between guidance and counselling, between youth and adults, and between UK and overseas contributors. Continuing debates relating to the title of the journal are discussed. The functions of such journals are addressed, along with the possible implications of the current moves towards open access publishing.     

How individuals with self‐reported anxiety and depression experienced a combination of individual counselling with an adventurous outdoor experience: A qualitative evaluation

Background: Adventure therapy is a short‐term experiential psychotherapeutic approach that utilises adventurous activities and being in natural environments in order to facilitate therapeutic change in clients. The present paper examines how students with self‐reported anxiety and depression experienced participating in an innovative intervention that combined individual therapy with an adventurous outdoor experience. Clients participating in the Adventure Therapy Project received between 10–15 one‐to‐one counselling sessions prior to the outdoor experience, as well as ongoing counselling following it. Method: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used in order to record and analyse the experiences of three male and three female students who presented at a major UK university student counselling service with self‐reported depression and anxiety. Findings: Twelve themes emerged which were categorised into four major domains: enhancing intrapersonal relationships; improving interpersonal relationships; providing an experiential outdoor venue for achieving therapeutic change; offering a secure, personal place for achieving inner healing. The intervention was perceived to improve the ways in which interviewees related towards themselves and other people. Interviewees perceived the counselling sessions as offering a safe therapeutic space within which they could unveil their anxieties and achieve inner healing. Conclusions: Outdoor experiences offer an experiential venue for achieving personal change and, it appears enhance the therapeutic process. Prior and subsequent individual therapy increases the benefits of such experiences.     

Practice‐based evidence in school‐based counselling

Aims: Counsellors are becoming commonplace within the support structures of secondary schools. To date, research findings from practice‐based outcome studies suggest this is a positive move. There are, however, numerous limitations to this work, and this project aims to develop this existing body of literature. Method: Nine 13–15 year olds attending counselling in six school‐based services participated in the project – one individual withdrew. A standardised self‐report questionnaire (YP‐CORE) was collected at four intervals: (1) the point of referral; (2) the onset of counselling; (3) the completion of counselling; and, (4) a two‐month follow‐up. The change indicated in each of these phases is examined and reported here. Additionally, YP‐CORE was completed during each session. Findings: The YP‐CORE indicates an improvement in the well‐being of this small sample, while waiting for and attending therapy. Further examination of session‐by‐session data also highlights how pre‐ and post‐outcome data should not necessarily be viewed as linear in nature. Discussion: This is a small‐scale investigation and further work is needed in this area. It does, however, raise a number of issues regarding the complexity inherent in conducting outcome research that warrant further investigation.     

Internationalizing counselling: A Southeast Asian perspective

To learn about our Southeast Asian colleagues’ views on internationalizing counselling psychology to Asian cultures, we interviewed eight counselling psychologists who had received their doctoral training in the United States. Four of the participants were currently practicing and teaching in their native countries and four in the United States. Using the basic principles of Grounded Theory [Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago, IL: Aldine.], we derived two themes from the data: (1) major assumptions in US counselling psychology that may limit its transferability to Southeast Asian cultures and (2) practices in learning, training, and cultural adjusting for future development and internationalization of counselling psychology. The participants emphasized the need for indigenization and knowledge sharing in the efforts to internationalize counselling psychology.     

University Counselling Services in Australia and New Zealand: Activities,Changes, and Challenges

The high prevalence of stress and psychological distress in university students highlights the need for adequate support services to enable students to achieve their goals. This study aimed to describe counselling services available to university students in Australia and New Zealand and to benchmark them against international services. Participants were five Australian and three New Zealand Counselling Services. Results showed that counselling services are using a variety of formats and e‐technologies to deliver services to students, but are hampered by limited resources compared with their international counterparts. These include very high counsellor student ratios, lower average number of consultations per student, and lower mental health qualifications of counsellors. This has even greater implications in the context of higher education reform in Australia that may further widen the gap between needs of students and available counselling services. Inadequate counselling support can negatively impact on students, universities, and the community through lost potential.